Five ‘C’ Aspects That You Can Improve While Working in a Call Center

Some people call this job “crappy” – but here in the Philippines, most of us call it “scary.”

Despite the fact that it usually requires agents to turn night into day, working in a call center in our country gives a paycheck that provides a satisfactory living standard for a Filipino citizen. The requirements are attainable by anyone with determination and the willingness to learn.

Call centers are well-known for providing experiences that enhance one’s ability to speak English – but there’s a lot of other things to learn from this “crappy” job, and it’s ironic because they all begin with letter ‘c.'

Whether you are from a Native English-Speaking country or just using English as your second language, being a call center agent develops a more enhanced persona. And as long as you are a good, observant employee you will learn a lot more by watching than most of us were told when we started.

Understanding how much you can learn ‘on-the-job,' once you become a part of a Business Process Outsourcing agency, the prospect of the job will be less scary, and you should be motivated to at least give it a try.

1. Communication

Communicating in English is not something we are having trouble with. You often hear your father using it fluently (after a drink or two), or your niece saying “hello” in a perfect slang. Speaking English has become natural here in the Philippines but turning it into a full-time job and talking to native speakers straight for up to eight hours is a huge challenge not all of us can deal with.

Considering that the main responsibility of a call center agent is to either receive or make as many calls as possible depending on what type of industry they represent, you can’t choose when or when not to talk while you are working.

With the extensive call handling responsibility that is assigned to call center agents, you will soon end up getting accustomed to the idea of opening your mouth more often, and you become more comfortable talking anyone anywhere about anything. (Drunk or not!)

1. Confidence

Let’s face it, we are all capable of thinking, and in fact, we all have unique ideas about different things. The only thing that’s stopping us from expressing these awesome ideas is our lack of guts to say it loud and proud. Call centers train you to become a confident speaker. They don’t allow you to sit in front of your computer and just keep your thoughts in your head when your customers are waiting for your answers over the phone.

Working in a call center is about selling products and services, answering inquiries, and solving costumers’ problems. No matter how scary it may sound to talk to a bunch of strangers on behalf of your clients, this type of training is proven to be a good booster of confidence and embracing the challenge; you’ll do just fine dealing with your anxiety.

1. Composure

Every time we receive some biased treatment, we feel insulted and tend to react emotionally. One of the things where we often fail is knowing how to avoid losing our temper – and one of the most important pre-requisites for becoming a good agent in a call center is being calm in all situations.

Your responsibility as a call center agent is to both provide satisfaction to the customer and protect your client’s reputation by your exemplary behavior. And this professional manner is important both in terms of handling customer concerns or introducing a service to a group of targeted consumers.

Being exposed to conversations that require little, or no, temper on your end develops your self-control and tranquility and improves your social manner.
And being aware of the rule; “Be calm, or be fired,” you will always end up choosing the former!

1. Carefulness

Call centers put their agents through a series of training and orientations before they are permitted to start handling live calls. Some of this training includes maintaining ‘cautiousness’ when talking to customers over the phone. Sometimes we think that something is unnecessary or goes unnoticed – but this small mistake can damage the reputation of a call center’s clients.

Companies provide instructions to call centers, and a good agent should carry out these instructions consistently to avoid misleading the customers. Working in an environment that requires this careful discretion will increase your ability to develop a good record and to enhance your client’s reputation.

1. Competency

Call centers require their agent to understand the whole business process of their client. These companies make sure that you, as an agent, know enough about what you offer and the nature of the business you will represent over the phone. Learning how to deliver a good presentation about your client’s service and learning how to speak confidently about it is a good experience that substantially improves your proficiency.

You will become an important part of the clients’ company and will handle their calls as one of their valued employees. Being involved in a company’s operation educates you on the nature of different businesses and gives you the versatile wisdom that you can also apply to your daily activities.